1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer that will print on a print medium by discharging ink. In particular, the present invention relates to a serial type ink jet printer in which an ink jet head moves while printing. Note that the word “printer” used in the present specification is to be interpreted in the broadest sense, and is a concept that includes a facsimile device, a copy machine, a multi-function device, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Serial type ink jet printers are widely known. This type of ink jet printer comprises a carriage and an ink jet head mounted on the carriage. The ink jet head has an ink passage and a nozzle communicated with the ink passage. When energy is applied to the ink inside the ink passage, the ink will be discharged from the nozzle.
There is also a type of ink jet printer in which the ink jet head as well as a sub ink tank are mounted on the carriage. This type of ink jet printer is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-53996 and 2003-312000. With this type of ink jet printer, a main ink tank is fixed to the printer main body. The ink inside the main ink tank is supplied to the sub ink tank. The supply of this ink is performed by driving a pump.